


Hotel Rooms

by Chesh_cat



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-03
Updated: 2019-08-13
Packaged: 2020-07-30 15:30:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20099482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chesh_cat/pseuds/Chesh_cat
Summary: In this essay I will try to prove that it’s actually Jooheon who is the jealous one in HoneyPup, and that he was the one who made the first move.





	1. Morning

It wasn’t even 06:30 in the morning when Jooheon suddenly woke up. He blinked owlishly, trying to stay awake. He felt warm and comfortable, wrapped in the cocoon of his covers, so he decided to stay in bed for a few more minutes. Seeing only the edge of the blanket and a part of white ceiling above his head, he closed his eyes again, recollecting the last bits of his dream.

He immediately winced and became annoyed.

Well, he had always been annoyed easily, especially in the morning, but those dreams that had been haunting him lately really pissed him off.

_“Hyung, listen... Hyung!” He felt giddy with excitement, he wanted to share something very important._

_In the dimly lit space that looked like backstage, Minhyuk was chatting and laughing with Hoseok. Minhyuk had his hand on Hoseok’s shoulder, leaning into his space and watching something on the screen of the phone in Hoseok’s hand. It seemed he hadn’t even heard him, so Jooheon tried again._

_“Minhyuk hyung, listen!”_

_“Later, okay?” Minhyuk’s voice sounded kind, but he didn’t turn to him, didn’t spare him a glance, not even a gesture, and that hurt so much. He felt so small and insignificant._

Jooheon groaned. He was so pissed off.

Then, to his surprise, he heard a soft noise to his left. Jooheon opened his eyes and pushed the covers a little only to find Minhyuk sleeping in his bed, curled up at his side atop of the covers with a hand casually resting over Jooheon’s middle.

It was as if the main character of his dream materialized out of thin air. Even now, in the morning light,-- especially now, probably-- Minhyuk looked stunning. Jooheon felt a stab of annoyance once again. He used it to make his voice sound steady.

“Hey, wake up!” Jooheon threw the covers off and slapped Minhyuk’s shoulder.

Minhyuk sighed sleepily and shifted, his left eye opening just a little.

“What are you doing in my bed?” Jooheon demanded.

Last night it was definitely Changkyun Jooheon shared this hotel room with. And Changkyun slept in a separate bed. Minhyuk blinked several times and stared, then smiled sheepishly. He propped himself up on an elbow, now considerably closer to Jooheon. His warm breath on Jooheon’s shoulder and neck was so irritating.

“Breakfast is already served in Hyunwoo hyung’s room. Changkyun said he couldn’t wake you up, so I volunteered, but I guess I fell asleep. You were so pretty in your sleep I wanted to give you a few more minutes...” Minhyuk chuckled softly.

It wasn’t like Minhyuk would often wake him up. Minhyuk himself liked to sleep in. But when he did try to wake up Jooheon, it was nothing like this, nothing this sweet. Well, maybe it had been, a couple of times, but for the most part Minhyuk preferred to haul him out of bed by an ankle or something like that.

That annoying dream and his kindness now made something dangerous turn in Jooheon’s chest. Minhyuk continued talking, seemingly oblivious to how Jooheon’s breathing had changed. “I already took a shower. You should take one, too.” Minhyuk patted Jooheon’s stomach with his free hand.

He was in a good mood this morning, it seemed.

Jooheon felt light-headed and scared. His heart seemed to try to hammer its way through his ribcage.

“You know we ought to leave at seven for the shoot, so you have about forty minutes left. You got to hurry up else Hoseok will eat everything you like.” Minhyuk laughed again. He moved to get up, but Jooheon was lightning fast.

He imagined this moment in his head many times, but it seemed so different from what he had always pictured.

He grabbed Minhyuk with both hands-- by his wrist and by the collar of the T-shirt, pulled him closer and pressed their lips together.

It felt like jumping in the water without knowing how deep it is. His body was frozen with fear, but his mind felt liberated.

Minhyuk’s breath smelled like toothpaste. Minhyuk’s lips were warm. Everything was perfect. Without realizing it, Jooheon automatically closed his eyes when the kiss started, and now was too afraid to open them.

Jooheon let go of the T-shirt and moved his hand to cup Minhyuk’s head. He changed the angle of the kiss a little and felt with growing dread that Minhyuk still wasn’t responding.

And yet he felt Minhyuk’s body heat through the layers of fabric separating them, and this realization made him moan.

He shivered. He was so ashamed.

Jooheon let go of Minhyuk completely and pulled back with reluctance, finally opening his eyes.

He found Minhyuk stare at him, absolutely confused, his moist lips parted a little.

Jooheon struggled to keep the eye contact.

“You are always talking about Hoseok,” he mumbled as if trying to find an excuse. The blush was already creeping up his neck. Should he now feel guilty for not feeling guilty?

Minhyuk blinked and suddenly dove down, pressing a quick kiss to Jooheon’s lips. It all happened in a blink of an eye, but in this fleeting instant Jooheon’s heart, it seemed, was reborn from the ashes with new hope.

“Why did you kiss me back?”

Minhyuk blinked again, this time in his unique almost-wink way. A light smile was tugging at the corners of Jooheon’s lips.

“You were cute,” Minhyuk said matter-of-factly.

“I want to date you,” Jooheon blurted without missing a beat. For once he was really glad he was this bold.

Minhyuk smiled softly.

“Let’s talk about this in the evening, okay? Now we have things to do...”

“Okay.”

Jooheon tried not to sound crestfallen, but the shadow of Minhyuk’s sad smile followed him everywhere that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! You made it to the bottom of this chapter. I really do hope I will have enough power and inspiration in me to finish this story. I really have a lot of ideas in my notes and on my mind regarding this story.  
The ratings will change with more chapters to come.  
I can't really write emotions the way I want them to... a) because of burnout. b) because English is a foreign language for me.


	2. The Chase

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter will be angsty, in a “psychoanalysis session” kind of way. My style of writing includes a good deal of angst mixed with fluff later on. So bear with me, please.

The shoot went surprisingly well, considering the thoughts going through Jooheon’s head. This morning’s events might have had a positive effect or, more likely, he just had long become adjusted to handling those thoughts without botching their projects.

The kind of dreams he was having about Minhyuk were not something new to him, honestly. They had simply evolved along with his emotions.

One of major fears in life for Jooheon was being alone and being lonely, even for a short time.

Jooheon knew that in a way, this fear was totally ungrounded. With his open personality he made friends easily, people loved him, but the fear never really went away. It was a dark corner of his mind he never particularly liked to visit.

The fear realized when _“No Mercy”_ started.

He tagged around after Gunhee like a lost puppy. During that time he felt lost and alone, and his dreams were filled with people distancing themselves from him and ignoring him. But time went on, he made new friends, and those bad dreams subsided. Now they returned, but concerned something... or rather someone else entirely. Ever since that moment he found Minhyuk interesting the chase began.

His interest in Minhyuk began very early, probably from the moment they first met. It was impossible not to notice Minhyuk. At the time when they didn’t even know each other and Jooheon thought Minhyuk was some good-looking, well-behaved and quiet guy who sat in the corner and listened to others speak, Minhyuk still grabbed everyone’s attention whenever he joined their discussions. He kind of had his own light; not even light, more like a shimmer Jooheon was drawn to.

Jooheon watched Minhyuk act with reserved confidence first warily, then with growing admiration. For sure, his initial impression was very, _very_ wrong. But the more he learned about the loud, opinionated and stubborn Minhyuk, the more he liked him. Jooheon liked this Minhyuk even more than the initial one.

The problem was, Minhyuk mostly hang out with other hyungs and seemed to pay attention to anyone but him. But Jooheon had always been a single-minded person. He felt happy at any opportunity to talk to Minhyuk, exchange ideas and know him better. He himself didn’t realize this until much later.

So, little by little his efforts bore fruit. But when he managed to grab Minhyuk’s attention, when he managed to become his friend, become even closer to him than Hoseok or Hyungwon, he realized he still felt greedy. It was still not enough.

That was when he learned about the true nature of his obsession with Minhyuk. He wasn’t so surprised that he felt this way towards a guy. Jooheon was more surprised it took him so long to notice it.

In all honesty, Jooheon knew he acted like a total dumbass around Minhyuk. When he watched their shows with the rest of the guys, he saw that he was always somewhere near Minhyuk, trying to attract his attention, be close to him, touch him, talk to him. He was always so desperate for attention. It was so embarrassing. He remembered that even during shows he forgot he was on camera, and just stared at Minhyuk in amazement or with that feeling that made his chest feel tight.

Well, he had never been a sharp guy when it came to complex feelings anyway.

Another thing was that Jooheon’s major aim in life was to be loved. Few people knew that he was a sucker for romance. It was nice thinking that some day he would find his ‘other half’ and the love would be just like in the movies. There was a side of him that liked that fluffy feeling when two characters on the screen kissed after overcoming all their hardships together. He loved all those little clichés, but would have never confessed this to anyone. He already had enough friends and family members who teased him about that.

And Minhyuk, at least in Jooheon’s opinion, had this fantastic capacity for love-- towards his family, people around him, random kids or animals in the street, and basically everyone and everything that piqued his interest. Sometimes Jooheon felt like he was the only one noticing Minhyuk’s love for the world that was brimming in the vessel of his heart. Jooheon really wanted a piece of that.

In a way, this was the thing that had caused his obsession. He was very greedy when it came to love. It was that simple.

Plus, Minhyuk was handsome. Good-looking. Very pleasant to the eye. That was something Jooheon didn’t even try to deny.

These were the thoughts occupying Jooheon’s mind that whole day. He was dreading what was to happen in the evening after the schedule, but he wasn’t the person to imagine potential bad things. He preferred to see for himself what life had in store for him without needless worry; so he calmly watched with knowing eye Minhyuk being a total wreck all day, and found a strange satisfaction in that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's the end of the chapter! Yay!  
Writing this chapter nearly gave me a heart attack when my computer decided to shut down on its own. Thanks God the file was automatically saved.


	3. In the Evening

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wild Changkyun appears! ;D I wasn't planning this, he just appeared out of nowhere and demanded to stay for three pages.  
This chapter is longer than previous ones. Hope you enjoy!

“Did you guys have a fight in the morning?” Changkyun asked in a would-be casual tone.

“Eh?” The question caught Jooheon off guard. He pretended that his head got stuck in the sweater he was removing so that the clever maknae wouldn’t be able to see his dumb ‘caught-in-the-act’ face. They had just returned to their hotel rooms and were about to change, take a shower, and order some food into Hyunwoo’s room later.

He heard the footsteps and felt Changkyun tugging his sweater up, helping him.

“Thanks,” he said when he ‘got free’. At least now Changkyun would think his face was red because of the mishap with the sweater.

“I say, did you have a fight with Minhyuk this morning? He was out of it this whole day. He also glanced your way all the time, and had that constipated look.” Changkyun added nonchalantly and crossed his arms over his chest. He looked bored but also a bit guilty for some reason.

“Kinda,” Jooheon said evasively. At least Changkyun didn’t give Jooheon his trademark ‘You can’t keep a secret from me, I know everything’ look, so that meant he didn’t know what ‘the fight’ was about. Jooheon felt relieved.

“I mean, when I tried to wake you up this morning, you tried to kick me,” Changkyun said.

“Sorry. I don’t remember that,” Jooheon confessed quickly. He really had no idea. Jooheon sat on his bed, and Changkyun joined him. He gave Jooheon a questioning glance and scratched his nose, feigning disinterest.

“So, did you two fight?” Changkyun asked again. He was very persistent. “I knew it was a bad idea to send him. You don’t like seeing happy people in the morning.”

This seemed to be the reason for Changkyun’s unease. He was probably feeling bad for Minhyuk getting supposedly beaten up in the morning.

Jooheon avoided maknae’s intrusive glances and focused on his hands lying in his lap. He didn’t know how to answer that. He hadn’t prepared anything to explain his or Minhyuk’s sudden lack of communication during the shoot. Oh, _that_ might have actually been very suspicious to others.

“I... guess I kinda yelled at him. Like, a lot,” he added quickly when he realized he probably yelled at Minhyuk every other day. If he just yelled at him, it wouldn’t be anything out of the ordinary to have such a drastic result on their relationship.

“I see,” Changkyun said. He had visibly lost interest in their ‘fight’ when he learned it was nothing interesting and his curiosity was satisfied. “I want to take a shower. Or do you want to go first?”

“Nah, I’m good”, said Jooheon. “I took one in the morning.”

“Okay.” Changkyun got up and started looking for a change of clothes.

Jooheon then had an idea, but he didn’t know if he could actually decieve Changkyun twice in one night.

“Listen,” he said, and Changkyun turned to look at him. “Now that you’ve mentioned it, I think Minhyuk really is upset with me.”

“Yeah, it seems so,” maknae agreed and nodded. He seemed unsuspicious.

“I think I really need to talk to him. We have had some disagreements lately, and this was probably the final straw for him. Could you probably exchange rooms with him? I mean, not right now, but after dinner, for example? Just for this night; you don’t even need to move your things. I think I’ll be able to make up with him, if we have a long talk,” Jooheon said, looking at Changkyun and trying to show his best reassuring smile.

“Okay. I can tell this to Minhyuk, if you want,” Changkyun said, shrugging his shoulders. Jooheon agreed quickly and awed a little. Changkyun was really too cool to be a maknae. Jooheon was about to shout “Great!” but quickly realized it would have been very strange were he this happy over something so insignificant (from Changkyun’s point of view).

***

After the evening meal, when everyone went to their rooms, Minhyuk tagged after Jooheon with a guilty air. Jooheon could almost feel Minhyuk’s eyes boring a hole in his back.

Minhyuk’s nervous energy always turned into lengthy rants, and now he started talking even before they reached the room.

“You know”, he said, “Hyunwoo hyung asked me today if we two had had a fight. I didn’t know he was this perceptive. Well, he is the leader, after all. Probably I should give him more credit.”

Jooheon glanced behind his back, not sure where this thought was going, and it seemed Minhyuk didn’t know either as he suddenly went silent.

“What did you tell him?” Jooheon asked. He didn’t actually care about the answer, but right now quiet Minhyuk was unnerving him.

“I told him that I wasn’t sure. He just said that we should get along well,” Minhyuk said. He giggled then, “It’s as if we are his kids.”

Jooheon didn’t answer. The more Minhyuk was calming down by talking about anything that crossed his mind, the more Jooheon felt the tension build inside him.

They reached the room and Jooheon used the card to open the door, the lights turning on on their own as the two of them went inside. Jooheon sat on his bed, which was further away from the entrance, and faced Minhyuk, who was still loitering by the foot of the second bed with an uncertain look on his face.

Jooheon patted at the spot next to him, and Minhyuk rushed to sit there, smiling gratefully.

“Do you want me to remove your makeup?” Minhyuk said, and suddenly the tension left the room. Jooheon nodded. It was probably very odd that this was not anything out of the ordinary for them. But in this moment Jooheon’s heart started beating like crazy.

“You can rest your head in my lap, if you want,” Minhyuk added, patting his thighs. This didn’t help Jooheon’s heart at all. If anything, he felt his ears getting red.

Jooheon quickly retrieved a pack of makeup remover wipes from one of his bags, gave it to Minhyuk (trying his best to avoid eye contact), and plopped back on the bed, putting his head in Minhyuk’s lap and closing his eyes. Minhyuk cradled Jooheon’s face in one hand, took a wipe from the pack and began removing his makeup.

Minhyuk’s movements were as careful as always, and Jooheon smiled despite being nervous.

“What?” Minhyuk asked, snorting, and his deft hand didn’t even stop.

“You’re being so tender; driving me crazy.” Jooheon said. He could tell Minhyuk was smiling, and felt sad he couldn’t see Minhyuk’s smile. He loved to see all kinds of Minhyuk’s smiles.

Jooheon knew they _had_ to start that conversation.

“So?” he asked, not knowing what exactly he had to say.

“So?” Minhyuk echoed, removing Jooheon’s eyeliner with precise but soft movements. He probably hadn’t even realized what the question was about.

“You said in the morning that we need to talk,” Jooheon pressed him further.

Minhyuk put down the wipe he was holding and moved his other hand from Jooheon’s chin into his hear. Jooheon opened his eyes, meeting Minhyuk’s very serious stare.

“I said I want to date you,” Jooheon mouthed, losing his courage. He could see Minhyuk’s cheeks turning pink. Was it a good sign? His heart skipped a beat.

Minhyuk absentmindedly run his fingers through Jooheon’s hair, and Jooheon nearly closed his eyes at the caress because it felt too damn good. Instead, he caught Minhyuk’s hand, intertwined their fingers and put their connected hands on his stomach thus effectively getting rid of a distraction and ensuring Minhyuk wouldn’t flee.

“So?” he said. He started feeling impatient.

Minhyuk was looking down at him with an odd shy smile.

“What is your answer?” Jooheon demanded.

“Do you really want to date me?” blurted Minhyuk.

Oh. Jooheon felt embarrassed.

“I understand that you might doubt me,” Jooheon said, scratching his nose with his free hand. “I know that I flirt with everyone. But you know that’s just how I am. And I felt that with you it’s different. It-- it gave me hope.”

Jooheon looked up at Minhyuk with the most sincere expression he could muster at the moment.

Minhyuk shook his head.

“No, it’s not that,” he said. Jooheon couldn’t shake the feeling that Minhyuk wanted to say something but had no courage to say it out loud. It felt like Minhyuk was feeling restless, as well as sad and guilty about something.

“Let’s put it simply.” Jooheon said. “I like you. What do you think about me?” He looked defiantly in Minhyuk’s eyes.

“I like you, too,” Minhyuk drawled, somewhat cutely. Jooheon was about to start complaining, because Minhyuk didn’t seem serious, but then Minhyuk continued, “I also want to date you.”

Jooheon’s heart did a friggin’ backflip.

“At first, yeah, I was worried that Jooheonnie flirts with everyone, but then I thought that I like even that part of you. And I like that you never shy away from my affection. It’s really nice to have someone who can handle my tendencies.”

Saying that, Minhyuk squeezed his eyes to emphasize just how thankful he was, and Jooheon felt a painful stab to his chest. He couldn’t really confess that Minhyuk’s overflowing affection was something he had actively pursued from the very beginning. Jooheon was envious of others who received his love, and didn’t understand them trying to get away from something he had wanted so much. Now, that he had it he couldn’t get enough of it. Jooheon wanted to say that this affection wasn’t something Minhyuk should feel sorry for, or be grateful for Jooheon in this way, but Minhyuk spoke again.

“I like hugging you. You are so soft and cute. It feels so nice that I sometimes think, ‘I want to make him mine’, or ‘It would be so nice to become one’,” Minhyuk said this in that strange dreamy tone that he used unconsciously when talking about some of his most innermost and oddest thoughts he had. Jooheon just couldn’t resist the temptation.

“Yeah, we can make that happen tonight, if you want,” he joked in a lowered, sultry voice.

“You know that I didn’t mean that!” Minhyuk yelled, slapping Jooheon’s leg with his free hand, and they both laughed together for the first time this evening.

Minhyuk’s happy face suddenly hardened, so fast that Jooheon was taken aback a little.

“Yeah, that was something I wanted to talk to you about,” he started gravely. “I don’t think you will still want to date me when you learn that I’m impotent.”

“What?” said Jooheon, and he guffawed. But then, seeing that Minhyuk’s face didn’t change and this was most definitely not a joke, he asked carefully, “Are you serious? I mean...”

He didn’t know what to say.

“Yes, I am.” Minhyuk still wore that grave expression; it was probably the most serious Jooheon had even seen him. It felt very unnatural, but again, Jooheon was only starting to know the real Minhyuk.

“And how does it...?” Jooheon still was at a loss for words. “Don’t you masturbate?” He asked, surprising himself.

Minhyuk giggled when Jooheon blushed.

“I do, but very rarely. When I do, sometimes I... lose interest; so lately I prefer the cold shower,” he said. Minhyuk looked very brave, but Jooheon could feel his distress.

Jooheon knew very little about impotency. This wasn’t something he thought about. He didn’t even know it could affect someone as young or as active as Minhyuk. But he definitely felt that it shouldn’t be the reason for Minhyuk to feel guilty about towards him.

The prospect of not having sex was somewhat distressing, since he couldn’t think of a relationship without one, but when it came to Minhyuk, everything was different.

Jooheon frowned. He looked up at Minhyuk and found him staring with resolute and grave focus at Jooheon’s right collarbone. Minhyuk was squeezing Jooheon’s hand lightly and looked like he was getting ready for a heavy blow.

Looking at Minhyuk being vulnerable and unsure, Jooheon felt affection pool in his chest.

“You really think I won’t date you because of that?” he asked. Minhyuk’s gaze shifted to Jooheon’s face.

“Yeah,” Minhyuk said softly, and Jooheon squeezed and pressed the hand he was still holding to his chest. He needed all the courage and all the sincerity he could gather.

“Regardless of sex, I still want to kiss you, hug you, spend time with you, sleep in one bed with you. This doesn’t change much.” Jooheon said that, feeling vulnerable himself. He didn’t like this feeling, but he had to be as open as he could now. “I want to do romantic things with you together as a couple,” he added.

Minhyuk listened carefully to his words, the visible distrust vanishing from his face, and Jooheon could see his eyes light up.

“I want to kiss you right now,” Minhyuk whispered with a cheeky smile. He bent his head, and Jooheon let go of his hand, pushing himself up and meeting Minhyuk’s lips halfway. This tender kiss made Jooheon’s heart flip once again. He felt as if the proverbial butterflies were not only in his stomach, but also in his chest and shoulders. He shivered, and felt with regret Minhyuk pulling back. Jooheon didn’t want the kiss to end.

He opened his eyes (he didn’t notice closing them in the first place), moved into a sitting position very close to Minhyuk, and gave him a naughty smile. “So, this means we are dating now?”

“Jooheon-nie... you don’t know what you’re talking about,” Minhyuk drawled half playfully half seriously. “You only know me as a friend, and as a... lover... I am different. I am possessive and jealous. You will not like me like this. I won’t stop nagging you for meeting with other people without me knowing. I will be even more annoying. It might suffocate you.”

Jooheon defiantly looked him in the eye.

“I’m not letting you go. I’m like a tiger cub, and I have already seized your neck in my teeth. You know me well, Minhyuk hyung. When I have a goal, I become fierce.”

“What are you talking about?” Minhyuk laughed aloud. Jooheon watched his happy face with a twinkle in his eyes.

“I am telling the truth. Now that we are dating, I will not let you run away from me.”

Minhyuk couldn’t help but mirrored Jooheon’s mischievous smile.

“Okay,” he said. “So, do you want to share the bed today?”

“Yeah,” Jooheon said, feeling so happy he thought he could fly.

It took them some time clearing space and moving two twin beds into one, and then making it so there was no tangible gap between the mattresses.

When they were settled down to sleep, with Minhyuk cuddling Jooheon’s right side with his head on Jooheon’s shoulder, Jooheon remembered something.

“Hey,” he said in the darkness of the room.

“Mmm?” Minhyuk said, not bothering to answer properly.

“Don’t speak to Hoseok hyung for some time, okay?” Jooheon said.

“What?” Minhyuk laughed incredulously.

“You heard what I said.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it for now! I bet you didn't expect any of this. :) Thanks for reading it!  
This chapter took longer to write, as now I plunge into uncharted waters, with only main points I want to cover in mind and wast spaces I have to fill. I don't know how long it will take me to write the next chapter, so I am sorry in advance if there would be no update for a long time.


End file.
